


Levamentum

by Xochiquetzl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-06-28
Updated: 2003-06-28
Packaged: 2017-10-05 05:46:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xochiquetzl/pseuds/Xochiquetzl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A giftfic for Iffer.  A potion to ease the pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Levamentum

**levamentum** (Latin): comfort, easing, alleviation, consolation.

* * *

Dumbledore looked up as the door to his office flew open with a bang. It was Snape, looking unusually pale and tired. "Severus? Are you here to give your report?"

Snape's only answer was to silently close and lock the door. He stalked over to the pensieve, then looked over at Dumbledore. Dumbledore nodded, and Snape pulled out the wand, put the tip to his head, and used it to extract long silvery strands of memory, dropping them into the pensieve. He turned away.

"Are you all right?" Dumbledore asked.

Snape turned back and gave Dumbledore a long, inscrutable look before turning away again. He sat in one of the chairs by the fire and stared into the flames.

Dumbledore looked into the pensieve, and then he was falling headlong into a forest. Snape was kneeling in front of Lord Voldemort. "You've told me nothing of value in months!" Voldemort said.

Snape kept his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him. "Dumbledore distrusts me. I've heard nothing of value to tell."

"Then perhaps you can show your loyalty another way." He beckoned, and a couple of Death Eaters brought out a blond teenaged boy. The boy looked, Dumbledore thought, like an older, muggle version of Draco Malfoy. A dementor appeared in the shadows behind them. "This boy was caught spying on us. Kill him."

Dumbledore closed his eyes, unwilling to watch. Several long, silent seconds passed.

"Merlin's beard, Severus," Lucius Malfoy said. "He's a **muggle**! He's already received the kiss, for Merlin's sake!" Dumbledore opened his eyes and looked at the boy, who was expressionless enough for Malfoy to be telling the truth. Snape didn't move.

Voldemort gestured towards Snape, and the dementor headed towards him.

"Expecto patronem!" An enormous snake leapt out of Snape's wand and attacked the dementor.

"You dare defend yourself?" Voldemort shrieked. "Crucio!"

Snape fell to the ground, and Dumbledore looked away, feeling that this was probably something Severus would prefer he not see.

"If I say you receive the kiss, you receive it! If I say you die, you die! And if I say you kill, you kill! Is that clear?" There was some rustling and a murmur. "Very well," Voldemort said. "Prove it."

"Avada Kedavra," Snape said, and the boy died in a flash of green light.

"I'm extremely disappointed," Voldemort said. "I expect better next time. Remove him from my sight!"

Lucius Malfoy pulled Snape into the trees. Dumbledore followed.

"He looked a little like Draco, didn't he?" Malfoy said.

Snape nodded.

"I suspected that was why you hesitated."

"Draco is such a bright, talented boy. You must be very proud of him."

"Yes, of course," Malfoy said in a careless tone that suggested a complete lack of pride to Dumbledore. "What are you doing with the rest of your evening?"

"Resting."

"Of course," Malfoy said. "Well, I'll see you, Severus." And then Dumbledore found himself standing beside the pensieve.

"I wonder," Dumbledore said absently. "Yes, it must be around here somewhere..."

Snape stood and silently returned the thoughts in the pensieve to his head. Then he sat back down in front of the fire.

Dumbledore rummaged through one of his desk drawers, pulled something out with a murmured, "Aha!" and approached Snape, who was staring into the fire. "Have a chocolate frog, Severus."

Snape looked at the package Dumbledore was holding out to him and raised an ironic eyebrow. "Does killing children now earn one a chocolate frog reward, Albus? That's a rather cynical point of view for an educator."

"It's medicinal," Dumbledore said. "For the dementor attack."

Snape took the chocolate and tore the package open, and Dumbledore threw some powder into the fire. "Poppy?"

Madame Pomfrey's head appeared in the flames. "Yes, Professor?"

"Can you come to my office with a levamentum potion?"

"Yes, of course," she said, and disappeared.

"I thought you might want to take it here because of the side effects," Dumbledore said.

"I'd prefer to take it alone in my room," Snape said, licking chocolate off his fingers.

"When the side effects start, you might prefer to be here," Dumbledore corrected gently.

Snape pulled the card out of his chocolate frog package. "I've gotten one of your cards." He held the card out to Dumbledore, who took it with a smile and slipped it into a pocket. Snape fixed him with a dark stare. "If I stay, you're not to discuss it with anyone."

"Of course, Severus."

"Not even me."

"Only if you bring it up first," Dumbledore said.

"Very well," Snape said, and turned to stare into the fire again.

There was a knock at the door, and Dumbledore rose to answer. He took the goblet of potion from Madame Pomfrey, said "Thank you, Poppy," and closed and locked the door. Then he crossed the room and handed the goblet to Snape, who scowled at it.

"I insist," Dumbledore said.

Snape gave Dumbledore a dirty look and took a sip. He paused. "The pounding in my head is almost gone already. Can we stop here?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "All of it."

Snape took another big sip. "It's disgusting!" he complained. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him, so he finished the last of it. He held out the goblet to Dumbledore with a scowl.

"How are you feeling, Severus?"

"The pain and fatigue are gone."

"And emotionally?"

"About what one would expect after consuming an enormous quantity of levamentum," Snape said dispassionately, only a slight tremor in his fingers giving him away.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"No."

Dumbledore considered this for a moment. "No, of course not." He paused for a moment. "Would you like to sit next to me on the couch?"

Snape gave him a potentially lethal stare. "If you tell anyone, I'll burn down the school."

"So noted," Dumbledore said easily, and patted the seat next to him. Snape moved to sit next to him, and Dumbledore extended a plate of biscuits to him. Snape took one, giving Dumbledore a long look before eating it.

Dumbledore put an arm around Snape, and to his surprise Snape put his head on his shoulder. "Sorry," Snape said.

"Don't be," Dumbledore said. "I've wanted to do this for years, but I was afraid you'd take my arm off if I tried."

"I probably would have." There was a long moment of silence. "I meant the unforgivable curse."

"I know," Dumbledore said.

"Stupid side effects," Snape said, and tried to pull away, but Dumbledore refused to let go. "So, milk, biscuits, and a hug? Is that the going punishment for unforgivable curses these days?" he sneered.

"I know it's harsh, but I really feel it's necessary for you to learn your lesson," Dumbledore replied easily.

"Perhaps you should spell it out. My brain is addled with levamentum."

"The purpose of Lord Voldemort's exercise tonight was to instill self-loathing. People who hate themselves make better followers. Have another biscuit." Snape took one. "No one else in the order could do what you did tonight. And after one receives the kiss, death is probably a favor." Snape just sighed, so Dumbledore said, "Finish your biscuit, and then get some sleep, and in the morning we'll pretend we never had this conversation."

Snape put his head back on Dumbledore's shoulder and kicked the leg of the couch with his heel. "You should have done this when I was little."

"As I said, I was afraid you'd take my arm off," Dumbledore teased gently.

"Madame Pomfrey could reattach it. " Snape yawned.

"It’s less a lack of faith in Poppy's skill," Dumbledore said, "and more not wanting to do anything you disliked enough to consider grounds for removing limbs." Snape didn’t answer, and Dumbledore pondered his silence for a moment. "It's very kind of you to indulge me like this. I badly needed a hug after looking in the pensieve." Snape moved a little closer and yawned again, and Dumbledore patted him on the back comfortingly. "Sleepy?"

Snape nodded and yawned again.

He stood and pulled a pillow and blanked out of a drawer. "Lie down and get some sleep."

"There's no need to treat me like a child," Snape said irritably, but he curled up on the couch and Dumbledore tucked him in.

Dumbledore sat in the chair next to the fire and watched Snape sleep.

* * *

Snape opened his eyes the next morning to find himself in Dumbledore's office. Why was he...?

Oh.

He sat up and looked over at the old wizard sleeping in the chair and considered waking him for a moment, then decided against it. It was probably better to slip out and lock the door behind him, to try to maintain the distance the levamentum shattered.

Physically, he felt fine, which wouldn't have been the case without the levamentum. Mentally, well, it could be worse. He'd brewed a batch once when he was seriously injured, long ago, and taken it by himself and spent the night curled up in a ball crying for his mother. Thank Merlin nothing like that had happened.

Dumbledore opened his eyes. "Good morning, Severus. I hope you slept well?"

Perfect. The exact casual tone necessary. "Yes, thank you." He stood. "If you'll excuse me, I have classes for which I need to prepare."

"Of course," Dumbledore said.

He stood, and looked at Dumbledore for a moment, trying to decide whether to thank him. Deciding against it, he turned on his heel and left. Expressing gratitude would have broken the fragile illusion of normalcy Dumbledore was being so generous as to provide, and that seemed more ungrateful than not apologizing.

The previous night was still like an open wound, but it was something he could keep to himself. He suspected he'd have nightmares about being ordered to curse young Malfoy, but in time the Dark Lord would pay for last night. He'd see to it.


End file.
